Matsuri St James's closes after 23 years

By Sophie WittsSophie Witts14-Nov-20162016-11-14T00:00:00ZLast updated on 14-Nov-2016 at 17:32 GMT2016-11-14T17:32:00Z

Japanese restaurant Matsuri St James’s has closed its doors in London after 23 years of trading.

The Bury Street site has served theatrical teppanyaki cuisine since 1993.

But now it is set to undergo a major refurbishment, and will re-open as 'modern Japanese' restaurant Onodera in 2017 following a £2.5m renovation.

The 120-cover venue will move away from teppanyaki to focus on ‘more refined’ cuisine in a ‘smart casual’ setting.

Matsuri's owner LEOC UK Ltd explained that the change was ‘vital’ to keep up with the changing London restaurant scene.

Masahito Hori, general manager at Matsuri, said: “We felt that we needed to really consider what direction we wanted the restaurant to go in. With new restaurants popping up in London every day we recognised that to be successful in such a competitive industry we would need to up our game.

“We’re extremely excited to bring you Onodera in Spring 2017.”

A statement on the restaurant's website described the change as 'the end of an era'.